Romance for Dummies
by Burning Ice Phoenix
Summary: Ivan is in love with Alfred. Alfred absolutely hates Ivan. Gilbert is having a good time laughing at Ivan's attempts. Due to a not so strange twist of fate, Gilbert winds up as Ivan's mentor for wining his love. Eventual IvaGil. Rated T for language. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**I should really be working on my other fics, but this idea came to me and it just wouldn't get out of my head! x.x;; Ah, school's coming soon, too...Not that that's helping me in any way... Dx You're probably bored of how many school AUs I've written, but this is the only multi-chapter situation I can think of...**

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* * *

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"Go out with me, da?" Ivan asked, following the shorter boy around. It was lunch break, the only time he got to talk with him so he had to make use of his time.

"Haha, you're funny, no way, Ivan." The blonde said before he slammed a door in the Russian's face. Ivan sighed, it was just like every other time. He was just about to leave when he heard a odd sound. ...Was someone laughing?

The sound seemed to be coming from the stairway and just as he was about to look up the stairs, a body rolled down. A boy with silver colored hair was laughing so hard his body shook. He didn't seem to notice that Ivan was right there. "Ahahahahahaha-" The laughing stopped the moment red eyes opened and realize that violet ones were staring straight back at him. "H-Hi...a-ahem, I-I wasn't laughing at you." He quickly lied.

And this story begins on the third day of school...

* * *

"...I really didn't expect him to actually lock himself in his room! And not come out for a week, aru!" Yao said from beside Ivan. "...Er, Ivan?" Yao waved his hand in front of the Russian, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Er, da, I think that's a good choice of lunch." Ivan answered with his usual smile.

"I never, in this whole conversation, mentioned lunch, aru." Yao answered with a frown. "You've been distracted the whole period! I mean, it's not every year that the teacher goes absent in the first week of school, aru!"

"Er, well-"

"Excuse me, Yao, can you move in? I want to pass..." Alfred had gotten up from his seat and was trying to get through the row. The students had originally sat at separate desks and now moved the chairs around, blocking acess through the rows of desks.

"Ah, no problem, Al!" Yao said, getting up and moving his chair out of the way.

"Hey! Yao!" Ivan dragged the Asian boy down to his seat again as soon as the American was out of earshot. "When did you get to be friends with Alfred?"

"Oh, over the summer. I mean, we've been friends on facebook for a while, aru." Ivan gave him a look of disbelief. "W-What? We didn't talk much, but..." Yao let out a sigh. "Well, you know? On that day when I invited you to go with everyone to the beach? But you were sick and couldn't come, aru?" The Russian thought for a brief moment before giving him a quick nod. "Well...I got excited to swim and I ran without looking at where I was stepping and I stepped on a piece of glass, aru... So then I was stuck watching everyone's stuff while everyone was swimming. Then Al came over for a drink and we had a talk, aru."

Ivan blinked as he paid attention to Yao for the first time the whole period. "Why does that sound like some of those dramas you watch? It sounds like a set up for a romance!"

"... ... ..." It took a moment for Yao to register what Ivan had just said. "I don't like him, aru!" He yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. It attracted the attention of a couple of students and Yao just glared and frowned at them till they stopped looking. "Don't think everything in life works like those dramas, aru!" He said in a sigh as if he was thinking deeply about something. "Anyways, why do you care, aru? I mean you've hated each other since the fourth grade when you couldn't agree on what play to put on- OH! Could it be that you like-"

Ivan quickly covered Yao's mouth with his hand. "N-Nyet, its not...It's not like that... Like you said, I've hated him for-"

"But this is just like the dramas, aru!"

"You just said the dramas don't count in real life!"

"Well...Ok, I did, aru." He said with a shrug. "So, how did this happen, aru?"

"I don't like him, Yao!" Ivan said, but Yao could see just the lightest tinge of a blush on the Russian's face.

"Denial is the first step to obsession, aru. You want to be like your sister?"

"I thought it was the first step to insanity!"

"...It's not good either way you put it, aru." The two had a mini glare war before Ivan won. "Why don't you just spit it out? Even if you don't like him, it's obvious that you have _some_ sort of attraction with him! You've been staring at him all period, aru! Not to mention today's the first day he's come in..."

Ivan gave him a determined that meant he wasn't about to spill anything. "I'm not going to make any more dumplings for you on Friday, aru." The Chinese boy threatened.

"Chto? But those are my favorite!"

"Ni ting dao wo le!" Yao retorted with a glare. "So either spit it out or no dumplings!"

Ivan frowned as if contemplating what to do. "...Alright..." He finally said. He didn't like the victory grin Yao gave him, however. _I'll get him back for this!_ He thought as he plotted which Hello Kitty doll was going to disappear for a month. "We didn't share any classes since sixth grade and I've avoided him for all those years... This sophomore year is the first time I've really looked at him for a while... And well, he looks hot."

"That's budding love if I know it! And it's just like the dramas anyways, aru." Yao said. There was always that type where the main characters hate each other, but they fall in love as time goes on.

"Nyet! It's not!" Ivan protested. "Why are you always watching those dramas anyways?" He asked with a frown. "You drag me to watch them too at times. I thought girls watched those, da?"

"That's none of your business, aru!" He said just as the bell rung. And with that, Yao got up and left before Ivan could say anything.

_...He didn't deny that mostly girls watch those..._ Ivan thought as he walked out. But, of course, Yao was kind of girly with how he grows his hair long anyways.

* * *

"Eh? Gil, what are you doing here?" Antonio asked as he sat down at the usual lunch table. "I thought you had a different lunch period?"

"Playing hooky." The German responded as fiddled with Francis's cell phone. "I got you a new high score, by the way." He told him before handing his cell phone back to him. "My teacher was absent anyways." He said before stretching.

"...But you have lunch next period anyways..." Antonio mumbled.

"So?"

"What would be the point of eating two meals? I mean, its not like we're allowed to get two lunches anyways..." The two stared at the Spaniard for a moment before breaking out in laughter. "What? What?"

"Ah, Antonio, don't worry about it anymore." Francis said before pulling the other over in a hug.

"...Oh, I gotta get something from my locker. I'll be right back." Gilbert said as he picked up his bag.

"Right now? The period's almost over anyways." Francis said with a pout. "Why not stay with us till the end?" He said, letting go of Antonio and reaching for Gilbert.

"Nein. It's important and- Did you just touch my butt?" He yelled as he slapped the Frenchman's hand away. Without giving either of them another word, he walked out of the cafeteria.

* * *

_Click-click-click-clack._ Gilbert opened the locker and was faced with pink interiors. "Wrong locker." Was the first thing he thought and he was about to lock it back up when he realized, "What am I saying, this is my locker! Dammit, Francis and Antonio must've done this..." He mumbled as he started trying to scratch some of the pink paint off of the locker. If the principal saw this, he'd get detention for the rest of the month! "Shit..." He mumbled when the paint wasn't coming off as easily as he hoped.

Forgetting the paint, he started shuffling papers and binders around in the locker to find what he was looking for. He grinned, the answers for today's quiz that he had stolen from some other kid was all in his hands! Just as he was putting the paper in his bag, he accidentally knocked his elbow against a binder and it caused a chain reaction with everything falling out of the locker.

"Aw, shit!" He mumbled just as the bell rung. He mumbled another curse as he picked everything up in a handful and threw it back in his locker. Just as he locked up again, he noticed that he had left something behind on the floor. Sighing, he was about to pick it up when some kid ran over and kicked it to the other side of the hallway.

* * *

"...Lunch~" The Russian thought happily. Not too far off he saw Alfred walking toward the cafeteria as well. _He has lunch this period too...?_ The thought made him incredibly happy and he wondered if Yao was really right.

He was about to follow him to the cafeteria when something hit his foot. Looking down, he spotted a pin. _Eeeh? What's this?_ He thought as he picked it up. "...Sunflower...?" _This looks familiar..._ He thought to himself before pocketing the pin.

* * *

"Shit? Where did it go?" Gilbert was searching the ground frantically for the pin he had lost. "Come on! I can't lose that...!" He mumbled to himself as he pushed some kids away to get around the hallway.

The late bell rang and the students started to dissipate. It was easier for Gilbert to navigate the long hallway, but that didn't matter. He couldn't see the pin anywhere. After scouring the hallway a couple of times, he still didn't see it. "...Shit." He mumbled, giving up and walking into the cafeteria.

* * *

"Alfred!" Ivan called, walking up to the table the American had been sitting at. Sitting on either side of him was Arthur and...a bear? No, it was someone holding a bear? Oh, well, it didn't really matter.

Alfred stop mid-bite of his meal and looked up at Ivan in a glare. "...Yes? What do you want?" He said with in a dry tone, but for some reason, he sounded extremely happy in Ivan's ears.

"I'll cut the chase. Go out with me?"

The bear dropped from the invisible boy's arms and a cup of tea spilled over the surface of the table. All three of them stared at Ivan with wide eyes and open mouths. "...What?" Alfred finally said after a long silence. "I...I think I heard you wrong. You want to...to go out with me?" Ivan nodded. "No...No, I'm sure you got the context wrong. You mean as a group date, right?"

"Nyet! I mean like boyfriend-girl...I mean, boyfriend!" Ivan said with a large grin.

The three stared at him again before Arthur and Matthew turned to stare at Alfred for his response. "Um...Al?" Arthur said, experimentally shaking the American's shoulder. "...I think he's in shock. He froze."

"Froze? Does that mean a yes?" Ivan asked as he waved his hand in front of Alfred's face.

"Well...I-"

"NO!" Alfred came out of his trance and screamed in Ivan's face. "No way in frozen hell!" He finished the last bite of his burger and left the table. Walking out the cafeteria, he accidentally bumped into Gilbert.

"Hey, watch where you're going-"

"But, Alfred! Why not? I love you!"

Gilbert watched as Ivan followed Alfred out of the cafeteria in just about as much shock as anyone else who was paying attention. "What happened?" He asked the other two.

Matthew shrugged. "Can't you tell?"

Gilbert gave him a shrug in response. "It sounds hilarious, though. What started this?" Again, he was given a shrug.

* * *

The next day, Gilbert walked into class just before the late bell and took the only available seat. It was only after he had settled down when he realized that he had just sat between Ivan and Alfred. On the left hand side, Ivan was staring at Alfred dreamily. On the right hand side, Alfred was looking away and trying to ignore Ivan.

Gilbert frowned and took out his notebook. "Sorry about yesterday, class. There was an accident and..." The teacher's voice was drowned out in Gilbert's mind as he was more focused on the strange atmosphere between the two of them. "...So these will be your seats!" Their teacher exclaimed happily.

"What?" Gilbert yelled as he stood up. "Can I please get a change of seats?" The last thing he wanted was to spend a year in between Alfred and Ivan.

"Oh, well..." The teacher mumbled as he scanned the room. "Anyone want to switch seats with Gilbert?"

"Da! Me!" Ivan immediately raised his hand.

"No! Not you!" Alfred yelled. "The seating is perfectly fine! No change necessary, Sir!"

"But, I..."

"No!"

* * *

"What are you writing, aru?" Yao asked as he watched Ivan scribble something on a piece of loose-leaf.

"A threat." Ivan responded to Yao's horror.

"W-What? I thought we agreed a long time ago we won't do that again, aru!" The two of them used to do that back in elementary to people they wanted on their side of the war, but they hadn't done that in a long time.

"No! It's not like back then~" Ivan said with a wide grin. "I'm going to give this to Alfred! I'm going to threaten him into liking me!"

"S-S-Shen me?" As if he wasn't horrified enough before, this just made him feel more uncomfortable. "H-How would that help with anything, aru?"

"It's worked before, da?"

"It has?"

"Yea...Natalia managed to get a date with me after she wrote a threatening letter!"

"S-She w-what? I can't believe she would... Oh, wait, I guess...she really would, aru. Wow, she's scarier than Wan..."

"Well, of course. Your sister's nice and pretty!"

"...Until you get her mad..." Yao mumbled.

"Did you say something?" Yao shook his head. "Alright. I'm finished with my letter. Now it's time to mail it, da?"

"You're not seriously..."

"Da, I am! After I took all this time to write it, after all."

* * *

Gilbert was just finished getting some notebooks from his locker when he saw Ivan wandering about the hallways. Out of curiosity, he started following him.

"Alfred! I wanted to give this to you!" The American turned around and Gilbert ducked behind the wall to avoid being seen.

"What is this...? I don't want any love letters from you!" Alfred said, handing the envelope back to Ivan.

"It's not a love letter! Just read it, da?"

Alfred eyed him suspiciously before tearing open the letter and taking the note out. He read it quickly. When he finished reading it, he read it again. And then a third time just to make sure he wasn't somehow reading it wrong. "Seven days after you read this, you will die. The only way to change your fate is by going out with me..." He glanced up at the Russian. "Maybe it'd work on Toris, but not me..." He said as he handed the letter back to Ivan and turned to walk away.

"So that's a yes, da?"

"No! It's still a no!"

As the two walked away, Gilbert dropped down on the floor holding his sides. He tried to keep it down at first, but he burst out in hysterical laughter in a matter of seconds. "Wow, that guy needs some serious help!" He said as he stood up again. He suddenly had an idea of how to spend his lunch period without Francis and Antonio.

So each lunch period, Gilbert was stalking Ivan who was stalking Alfred. Some of the things the Russian did was so hilarious, Gilbert found himself breaking into laughter hours later when he was hanging out with his best friends. Everyone else would stare at him like he was insane, but he just waved it off as an inside joke.

Two weeks of this and Gilbert finally got caught by Ivan after rolling down a stairwell.

"You're...the guy who sits next to me in English class." Russia said after a moment of recogonition. "...The guy who sits between me and my Alfred..." He mumbled in a dark tone that made Gilbert shiver in fear (not that he would admit it). "What are you doing here...?"

"Um, well, uh..." Gilbert searched through his mind for an excuse, but the distant KolKolKol's he was hearing in just his mind was already throwing him off. "I've...Um...Noticed that you like Alfred."

"Yea?" Gilbert could feel the ice cold glare directed at him without even looking up. "What's it to you? Do you like Alfred or something?" At the last sentence, Gilbert actually felt the temperature in the hallways go down a couple of degrees.

"N-Nein! I don't!" To his horror, he actually stuttered. He was not going to show he was afraid! "And I noticed that you've been having trouble." He said in a firmer voice. That courage, however, wavered at the even more menacing glare focused on him. "...So, uh, I'm moved by your determination and I want to help you!" _Fuck, what am I saying?_

The cold atmosphere immediately returned to normal. "...Really?"

Gilbert nodded.

"Really?" Ivan said again, this time with more enthusiasm. Gilbert nodded again, this time with a forced grin. "Really? Really? Really? Thank you! Thank you!" He said, giving the German a crushing bear hug.

Gilbert let out a yelp of surprise. "Ivan! Air! I need air!"

"Oh, oh, sorry..." Ivan quickly apologized and let the boy go. He did, however, continued to give Gilbert a really bright smile causing him to take a few steps away. _...Shit, what did I get myself into...?_ Gilbert thought as he bit his lip. He may not be as bad as Ivan, but he wasn't as awesome as liked to say he was in getting a date. Not to mention he didn't even want to help Ivan after the stunts he pulled in elementary school.

* * *

Francis and Antonio were getting tired of waiting for Gilbert by the school gate. "Gee, Gil's usually the first one out of the building. What's taking him so long?" Antonio whined.

"...I don't know. Oh, hold on, I got a text from him." Francis said as a message displayed itself on his phone.

"Really, what does it say?"

"'Francis, I need your help'..." He read off the screen. The two boys looked at each other before grabbing their bags and heading back into the school.

* * *

**I prefer using phonetics since I don't really like copying and pasting too much so... o3o;;**

Russian:

_Da_- Yes

_Nyet_- No

_Chto_- What

Chinese:

Ni ting dao wo le- You heard me

Shen me- What

German:

_Nein_- No

Other... _Wan_- Name I use for Taiwan


	2. Chapter 2

"Come out, Gil. There's no one watching." Francis told Gilbert through the door.

"Si!" Antonio agreed. "You can't hide in the girl's bathroom forever!" Francis let out a small laugh at what the Spaniard said. "Shut up! This is embarrassing enough without you rubbing it in my face!" Gilbert yelled through the door as they heard the door being unlocked from the inside.

The door opened a crack and Gilbert glanced around to make sure there really was no one before stepping out. "How in the world did you manage to end up in there?" Francis asked as they walked down the hallway to exit the school again. He had simply gotten a text message from Gilbert asking for help and the location of where he was. He was surprised when the two of them had ended up in front of the third floor girl's bathroom.

"I blame Ivan." Gilbert mumbled as they reached the stairwell. "I was running away from him and I ran into the first door I saw. I just didn't notice that it was a girl's bathroom."

"Really?" Francis asked with a chuckle. "That's the sort of mistake I expect Antonio to make!"

"Hey!" The third member of the trio piped up. "I'll have you know I only did that twice!"

"T-Twice...?"

"Si! Dos tiempos!" The boy repeated in Spanish. "I almost got suspended once..." The other two boys exchanged a look before sniggering at him. "What? It was an honest mistake!"

"Don't worry about it, Tony. Just don't do it again." Francis told him while Gilbert continued to laugh.

"..." Antonio gave them a slightly disbelieving look before turning back to Gilbert. "Why were you avoiding Ivan anyways?"

"Eh, oh... Does a person even need a reason?" Gilbert said as he stepped out of the school. "Half the school doesn't like him since elementary..." Gilbert suddenly stopped mid step and glanced around. "He...He left already, right?"

Francis nodded. "I heard he was going to watch a movie with some of his friends."

"That guy has friends?" Gilbert joked as he continued to walk.

"Well, you only said half the school hated him!" Antonio repeated. "The other half still likes him."

"I said half, but I'm almost one-hundred-percent sure that it's really just four or five people."

"It's not like you have tons of friends yourself!" Francis teased.

"Hey! Hey! It's quality over quantity! As long as they're good friends, it's enough!"

"Sure, like how she moved away to Europe without telling you!" Antonio said with a joking smile. But it was clear to all three of them that he shouldn't have said that. "Ah, um...I-"

"That reminds me, I lost something the other day. Did I give it to you guys maybe? It's a pin." Gilbert said, clearing his throat. "It's sunflower shaped and if you see it, it's import..." His voice trailed off as both of them shook their heads. "Oh, well, it's worth a try to ask you!" He said before continuing down the street.

* * *

"Why are you so happy today, aru?" Yao asked as they were paying for their tickets. Toris had gone on ahead to get popcorn first.

"Ehu~" Ivan giggled. "Someone said they were going to help me in winning Alfred's love, da~"

"Really? That's nice to hear, aru." Yao said, giving him a smile as they got their tickets. "Who is it?"

"Gilbert. He's in one of our classes, I think." Ivan said as he put his wallet away. Just as he was, something fell out of his pocket.

"Yea, that's fourth period I- Hey, you dropped something, aru!" China picked up a sunflower pin and held it up to Ivan. "Hey, this..."

"Oh, I found it in the hallway." Ivan said as he took the pin back. "It's nice, da?"

"...Yes, it just...Looks a lot like the ones you used to make, aru." When Ivan gave him a questioning look, Yao sighed. "You know, aru? Back in elementary, for club, aru?" Ivan hesitated before shaking his head. "Never mind, aru! We'll miss our movie!"

* * *

"I-Is Ivan ok?" Toris asked as Yao walked out of the bathroom.

"...Crying his eyes out, but yes, he's fine, aru." Yao answered. He really didn't expect that the Russian would start bawling in the middle of the movie. It was touching, yes, but he would never have thought that...

"I'm surprised you're not crying, Yao." Toris said nervously. "Everyone else was crying a bit..."

"Oh, well, I had practice, aru." He explained before peeking into the bathroom again. "Ivan, you ok in there, aru?" At the sound of sobs, he walked back inside to comfort him.

"Oh I see-" Toris furrowed his eyebrows mid sentence. "Wait, how do you practice for a movie with a sad ending?"

* * *

When Ivan walked into school the next day with puffy eyes, Toris couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "Y-Yao, is he a-alright?" He stuttered a bit. It was the result from being around Ivan so much. Only a few of Ivan's friends didn't stutter every other word.

"Yeeeeeaaa..." Yao answered, dragging out the syllables. "He called me at one to talk about the ending and how he felt sorry for the couple for about three hours straight last night, aru. He is most definitely paying the bill for that call, aru." He said with a roll of eyes as he took his seat.

Gilbert walked into the room yawning. He had a sleepover with his best friends and wound up playing some zombie games for half the night. The other half of the night, he had trouble sleeping cause he kept hearing the gun shots from Francis and Antonio who were still playing in the living room. He had completely forgotten about the deal with Ivan until the Russian stopped him in the middle of the hallway. "Wha da hell d'ya want, Braginsky?" He slurred as he rubbed his eyes.

"You said you were going to help me, da? Don't you have any suggestions?" Ivan asked. He was going to just aggressively ask Alfred again before he saw the German.

"Huh? Wha-" Gilbert nearly choked on the air he was breathing. "O-Oh, uh..." He quickly searched his brain for something to tell him. He didn't actually know a lot about wooing someone, much less if its someone as dense as Alfred. _Well, maybe it's the same level now since Ivan just kept getting rejected._ "Why are you trying so hard again? He's rejected you at least 50 times, hasn't he?"

Ivan gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? He just clearly doesn't understand how deep my love is, da? It wasn't rejection! He's just clearly confused. He's sort of dumb, after all."

This time, Gilbert nearly choked on air for a different reason. "...I wonder who's the dumb one here..."

"That's easy! You!"

"Was?" Did Ivan just insult him this early in the morning?

"Da! You currently have the lowest grade in the class! Remember? Mister told everyone their grades for the first quiz last Thursday!"

Gilbert groaned before face palming the way his brother did. "I can't deal with this so early in the morning. Why don't you go wash your face and talk with Alfred. Who knows, he just might open to you."

"Da, I'll do it!" Ivan said with an enthusiastic smile. "...Why do I have to wash my face?"

"You look like you were crying all night. Now I'll see you never, I mean fourth." He said as he walked to his first class.

* * *

"You know what's insanely tiring?" Gilbert asked Matthew as he sat down next to Arthur. Arthur frowned a bit and shifted over, trying to make some space in the crowded table.

Matthew shook his head, hugging his bear tighter.

"Watching Ivan stare at your brother and sighing every once in a while." He said with a shrudder as if the memory was really creepy and scary.

"Eeeeh..." Matthew didn't really know how to respond.

"If you're watching, why don't you do something about it?" Alfred hissed as he sat down next to Matthew, in front of Arthur.

"Why so late, chap?" Arthur asked, putting down his cup of tea (Gilbert wondered where he got that from, but knew better than to ask).

"Why? I'll fucking tell you why! Cause I was being chased up and down the seven flights of the school five times by a dumb Russian who nearly followed me into the same stall in the bathroom!" Alfred nearly screamed at Arthur.

"I get it, I get it..." Arthur mumbled as he rubbed his ear to get his hearing back. "So where's he now?"

"Searching for me in the basement. I paid some kid to tell him his schedule instead of mine. Rai...Raivis, I think? Some Freshman. So now he thinks I'm taking algebra in the basement."

"Didn't he see you here a week ago?" Gilbert asked with a raised eyebrow. Surely Ivan would figure it out sooner or later. "And I thought only freshmen took algebra?"

Alfred shrugged. "Ah, well. As long as he buys it." He said as he went back to digging into his chicken with the plastic spoon. The chicken served must be the driest and most disgusting in the world, but the American still ate it like nothing. Just as he took the finishing bite, he saw a crowd of students at one end of the cafeteria. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

The other three sitting at the table turned around to look at what Alfred was pointing at. "Oh, they're having a flower sale." Arthur explained. "To raise money for the school."

Alfred immediately frowned. "Dammit, as if it hasn't been bad enough of a day already." He mumbled.

"Oh yea." Matthew said softly. "You're allergic to pollen, right, eh?"

"Why? You don't like flowers or something?" Arthur asked, not hearing what Matthew had said.

"Yea. I'm allergic."

Matthew frowned and hugged his bear tighter still. "It's ok, I heard you." Gilbert said to comfort the blonde and he was given the tiniest of smiles. _But wait, Alfred is allergic...?_ A sly grin crept up on Gilbert's face as he got an idea.

* * *

"Sorry guys, you go on ahead!" Gilbert told his friends at his locker. He had managed to get most of the paint off, but his two best friends were still snickering at the slight remains and the multiple tools he had stored in his locker to remove it, how did he bring that into the school? "I have to go find Ivan!"

"...Find Ivan?" The two of them stopped sniggering and gave him a questioning look. "You were just avoiding him the other day."

"Oh... Well, uh, I can't avoid it today." He said as he tried to stop a smirk that he knew was appearing on his face. "Oh! And tomorrow, skip lunch. Sneak into my class, ok?"

"What?" Francis exclaimed. "But that guy said if he ever caught me in his room at the wrong period again, he would fail me!"

"What were you doing in his class at a different period...?"

"Making out in the corner seat..." Gilbert and Antonio exchanged a look.

"Just be there, ok?" Gilbert said as he slammed the locker door close.

* * *

"Sorry, Ivan, I have to leave now, aru!" Yao said as he hurried to grab his jacket from his locker. The two of them had chosen lockers near each other in order to chat after class. Toris and Raivis's lockers were also nearby, just a couple lockers away from Ivan's. "Hong got injured in gym." When Ivan gave him a confused look, he continued, "Volleyball- It's a dangerous sport. Some kid managed to send the boy right into his face, aru. He even got a black eye from it." Finishing zippering his jacket, Yao grabbed his bag and left the room. "Bye, aru!"

Ivan squirmed a bit as he waved goodbye. Boy, that sounded painful... He felt sorry for Yao's younger brother.

He had just finished getting all his books together and walked out of the room when someone skidded to a stop in front of him. "Ivan! Thank god I didn't miss you!" Gilbert yelled as he caught his breath.

"Eh? Chto? You were looking for me?"

"Ja! Why else would I run here?" He said as he glared up at the older boy. "Well, anyways," his expression went back to a sly grin. "I thought of something that could help you win Alfred!"

Ivan's eyes lit up. "Really? What is it? Tell me, tell me!" He said as he grabbed the shorter boy by the shoulders and shook him slightly.

"I will! Now stop shaking me!" Gilbert said as he shrugged the Russian's arms off in annoyance. "The flower sale, you know? They're selling flowers. Buy him some flowers and give them to him!"

Ivan thought for a moment, as if fantasizing something, before speaking. "Yea! That's a great idea! It's still open, da? I'll go buy some and give them to him tomorrow!" He grinned and hurried down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Gilbert started sniggering and chuckling to himself. "I can't wait for tomorrow..."

* * *

The next day, Gilbert ran into fourth period class to find Antonio and a slightly reluctant Francis waving at him from the back of the room. He smirked back as he took his seat. The teacher hadn't arrived to class yet. The person watching the students was the teacher from last period.

Alfred walked in a few moments after Gilbert and took a quick look around before going to his seat. "What's Francis and Antonio doing here?" He asked the German.

Gilbert did an offhanded shrug. "No idea whatsoever." He lied.

Alfred shrugged back as an 'ok' and took his seat. Just as he sat down, Ivan appeared with a handful of sunflowers. Gilbert nearly fell out of his seat. He was going to give him _sunflowers_? He was expecting for him to get roses or something, but definitely not four feet long sunflowers to give to Alfred.

Alfred's eyes widened as Ivan held the flowers in his face. "For you-"

"What the fuck, get those things away from me!" Alfred yelled as he got up and shoved the flowers back to Ivan.

"Eh? What? Is something wrong?"

"I'm allergic!" He yelled as he ran out of the room.

"Huh? R-Really? No way!" Ivan said as he followed Alfred out.

"Don't follow me with those! At least put them down!" Alfred's yell was audible as he tried to run down the hallway.

Gilbert had buried his head in his arms to try to stifle out his laughter, but it didn't help that Antonio and Francis were also cracking up in the back of the room. It took about 50 seconds for Gilbert to raise his head and realize that Yao was standing in front of him with arms crossed and a frown. It was 30 seconds after Yao had punched him in the face and dragged him out into the hallway that he remembered the Chinese boy was part of the Kong-fu club.

And only as Yao glared at him and hissed threats did Gilbert realize what sort of deep shit he was in.

* * *

**So... RL and school joined forces and gave the epic beat up of a lifetime D; I don't get much time to work on anything these days. ...I even had my Saturday's stolen and turned into prep school time ._.**

**Anyways, I originally planned to make this chapter longer... But halfway through writing it, I realized that it would be way too long if I stopped it where I had originally wanted to ._.''**

**I also apologize that there's been excessive Spanish and Chinese so far. I'm (semi)fluent in those languages so I tend to use them more. I blame school. I really do.**

Spanish:

Si- Yes (I know there's a accent on the i, but I was too lazy to go and dig the code for it out of some website. I'm using wordpad and it's sort of annoying.)

Dos tiempos- Two times

German:

Was- What

Ja- Yes

Russian:

Chto- What

Da- Yes

Other... Hong- Name I use for Hong Kong


	3. Chapter 3

"Gilbert...?" The Canadian asked experimentally through the door. "...What are you doing, eh?"

"Y-Yao's not out there, right?"

Matthew shook his head. "But I still need to go! Open the door soon...?" He asked hopefully. He didn't quite get what made Gilbert suddenly so afraid of the Asian, but he had seen him sprint out of the classroom from the hallway into the bathroom as quick as possible. Thinking he must've just really needed to go, he had sat down at their usual table and waited for everyone else.

Then Alfred and Arthur decided to have a milk drinking contest. And they decided to include him. Unfortunately, for some reason, the school bathroom doors lock from the inside. So if someone was in there and locked it, all stalls are unavailable.

"So he's out there?"

"No! He's in class, eh!"

"Oh..." There was a click and the door unlocked. "I...uh...I knew that. I was just testing you." He said, feigning coolness as Matthew rushed inside.

Walking into the lunchroom, he arrived at their usual table to see that Alfred and Arthur were still engaging in their milk contest. "Hey, Gilbert! Join us!" Alfred offered as he threw the carton he just finished to the side along with the other 3 dozen or so empty cartons.

"Um...No." He said with a shook of his head as he pushed the cartons off the table to put his bag there instead.

"You're going to have to pick that up." Arthur said, pointing at the cartons on the floor.

"Nein. The lunch ladies are being paid for a reason." Arthur agreed with a shrug and returned to his contest with Alfred. Gilbert looked over to the next table to see some Asian kids chatting. Already, he is reminded of his conversation with Yao. "Ulrggggh-" He groaned as he buried his face into his schoolbag, effectively muffling himself.

* * *

"Listen up." Yao hissed. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you better do your job right, aru!"

"Hey, hey, calm down! You're supposed to be that-"

"Call me a fob and I'll punch you one more time."

"-Calm, nice guy who's kind to everyone!" Gilbert quickly changed his sentence. "Can you let go of my collar now?"

"No, aru!" Instead of letting go, his grip only grew tighter. "You! Don't play with Ivan's feelings! You specifically told him to give Alfred flowers knowing he was allergic, didn't you?"

"Well, I-"

"Stop it, aru! If you don't take the job of helping him seriously, I'm not afraid to hurt you, aru!"

Gilbert was quiet for a moment before breaking into a grin. It wasn't long before he started laughing out loud. "Yea, just you, right? You don't scare me! You're just one person! I've got friends, unlike you!"

"Friends...aru?" Yao blinked once before he smirked at the German. "Oh I've got friends. But I don't need them to finish the likes of you. All it needs to take care of you are the freshmen in the club. And trust me, I've trained them good." Seeing that he got the message across, he released Gilbert and turned to walk back inside. "So remember, do your job or else!"

* * *

"...Ha...Haha... How good can _freshmen_ in the kong-fu club be...?" Gilbert mumbled into his schoolbag.

"Eh? Are you planning to join the kong-fu club?" Matthew asked as he returned to his seat across from Gilbert. "You have to beat a member to join. And you can pick anyone you like."

"Really, there requirements like that?" Gilbert asked, looking up. "If they did that, only a few people will join!"

"They only want the best!" Alfred chipped in. "I mean, they do go to contests and stuff like that. I tried out too, once! Couldn't beat them!"

"Huh, what? But aren't you good at wrestling?"

"Yea, 'cept this git isn't as small and speedy as the Asians there. I saw Yao deliver quite a finishing blow on Alfred." Arthur agreed with a chuckle. Their contest was over, it seemed. It wasn't a surprise since people stopped giving them their extra milk.

"Uh..." Gilbert was starting to feel a bit of fear. "H-Ha! My awesomeness can take on all of them!" The other three exchanged a glance before shrugging.

"You can try."

"But you won't succeed."

"Eh."

"Gee. Some friends you are." Gilbert mumbled as he hugged his schoolbag again. "...Oh, where's Ivan today?"

"He thinks I'm in the basement."

"_Still_?"

"Yup."

* * *

Ivan's last class was Chemistry class. He didn't mind English, he had to learn it since he was living in America. But having it last period was making it a bad atmosphere in the whole classroom. Kids are falling asleep because of the warm September weather or they're staring at the clock waiting for school to end. It did not help that their teacher was a absolute jerk and made them do a multiple choice test on things they weren't even taught yet. Did they give that much time in the real ones? Oh well, it didn't matter.

_All that matters is that I finish quickly and go find my love da~_ Ivan thought.

"Why isn't your pencil moving! Stop daydreaming and get working!" His teacher yelled at him.

* * *

The next week passed without much incident. Key word being much.

"Go out with me? Just one date, da?"

"Nooooo!" Alfred yelled as he ran down the hall. These days, he was always the first to arrive in each of his classes because he was running away from Ivan every time the bell rung.

"Wow, he's really serious." Francis noted as he stopped mid conversation with Arthur to watch Ivan chase Alfred to the other wing of the building despite his class being on the direct opposite side. "Hey, how long do you think he'll keep up?"

"...The whole year." Arthur answered as he took a sip of tea. Francis didn't know where that came from or how he managed to get it out of the cafeteria...but he wasn't going to ask. "He's sitting with us each day at lunch since he realized that Alfred did not take algebra in the basement."

"Oui, Gil told me."

* * *

Gilbert had avoided confrontation with Ivan the whole week and he thought that maybe, just maybe, the Russian had forgotten their deal. Yao too. Really hopeful on the Asian's part seeing how he seems to have pretty good memory.

He was just on his way to the Baking Club (to harass Roderich and steal some cake...and maybe to just embarrass his younger brother a bit) when someone grabbed the hood of his hoodie. "-Hgh?" He immediately tried to punch the person behind him with no avail.

"Ooow!" Ivan whined and rubbed his stomach when Gilbert managed to elbow him.

"Huh? Ivan? What do you want?"

"...To talk to you?" He said in a tone that made it sound as though it should've been obvious.

* * *

"Uh...Are we allowed to be here?" Gilbert asked as he hung his legs over the edge of the stage and looked out at the vast auditorium in front of him. Wasn't the drama club supposed to be held today? ...Oh, no, wait, that was tomorrow.

"Yea, no one's here so I think we can come here, da." Ivan answered as he sat next to Gilbert. "I like it here when no one else is here. And it looks nice from the stage. Its so much grander and you can see the balcony. It looks really nice."

"...Balcony...Back in elementary they had a balcony too, didn't they?" Gilbert mumbled as he let his thoughts wander. He could still remember wandering the dark halls together while clasping each others hands. _"What's the matter, Gilbert? You scared of the dark?"_ The voice rang clear in his mind. They both knew they shouldn't be there, but they had snuck out of the house without their parents knowing. It was a dare from other kids. Sneak into the balcony at night.

"-bert? Gilbert!"

"Huh? What?" Gilbert snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Ivan.

"Oh, I was asking, you still remember our class back in elementary?"

"Of course! Everyone always got into the same school. Except a few maybe. They were dropped along the way."

Ivan let out a small laugh. "Elementary was fun... Until-"

"Until you and Alfred messed it up!" Gilbert said louder than he had meant to. But it was a lie either way. It hadn't been fun since his best friend moved away. _And I lost the very gift I was given the other day..._ He thought to himself as he wondered where the sunflower pin could've went.

"...I...I didn't mean to." Ivan said in a quiet voice. "I just...couldn't agree with Alfred since the play. And-"

"Well what did I have to do with it? Why did you bring me and my brother into your mess?"

Ivan was silent. Ever since he had fought with Alfred everyone they knew seemed to be involved. Of course it didn't take long for Gilbert and Ludwig to get involved. _His brother started it first..._ Ivan thought to himself.

_I still hate you for that day._ Gilbert wanted to say, but he was sure that Ivan knew that already. "Well! I'm sure you didn't call me here to talk about the old fun days!" _Not that I would've forgiven you for that day. Not if you apologized a hundred times..._ He could still remember how cold the snow was and how scary it was. _You went too far that day..._ "Or to talk about a balcony! So what is it?"

"Eh? Oh! I wanted to ask for new ideas on how to get Alfred to like me!"

"Huh? Oh...well..." Hmm, he was in a bit of a problem now. Its not like he could just say something stupid. Ivan only shared one class with Alfred so it would be that time for him to make his move. And Yao was in that class too. If Ivan did something really stupid, Yao would clearly be able to tell it went directly back to him. "Er...what was it...?"

"Da?" Ivan stared at him intently which didn't help his concentration at all.

"Uh, make a lunch for him?"

Ivan's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea, da! Spasibo!" He said, jumping up and hugging Gilbert before running away.

"Did he just _hug_ me?" Gilbert said, making a face. That was what girls did! Guys don't hug guys...!

* * *

"Woah, eh."

"What is that?"

"Your scones look good in comparison, Arthur."

"Shut it, you git."

The lunch that Ivan held out for Alfred was censored out because of how... Well, it could be described as worse than Arthur's cooking.

"I set water on fire while I was making it, da!"

"That's...not something to be proud of."

"I tried a couple of times. The first result _bounced_."

"Uh, what?"

"It wouldn't stay still! And it kept slipping out of my hands, da!" Ivan placed the lunchbox in front of Alfred who was pale and very scared of what was in the container. The Russian then sat down in front of him with a grand smile as if waiting for Alfred to take a bite and try it.

"U-Um, aha...Funny, I, uh, ate two lunches today! So I'm not really hungry!" Alfred said. It was true, he stole Matthew's ID card and got a second lunch.

"Oh, that's too bad...Ok, I'll eat it this time and I'll give you another one tomorrow!"

"Another one?" Alfred squeaked and got even paler.

"Da!" Ivan said as he got out of the table and skipped back to his own.

"Wait, did he just say he'll eat it himself?" Gilbert asked and when everyone confirmed what he heard, he quickly jumped out of his seat and ran after Ivan. "Ivan! Ivan! Wait, don't eat that!"

* * *

"Huh? What's wrong with my cooking?" Ivan asked as Gilbert put an apron on and attempted to tie a knot behind him without looking.

"You told us it fucking _bounced_."

Ivan gave him a confused look. "That was only the first try. The second one bit me."

"It _bit_ you?"

"Da. So I killed it with my pipe."

"You _killed_ it? As in it was _alive_?"

Ivan nodded and Gilbert's jaw threatened to drop to the floor. And he was supposed to be a bad cook! What did Ivan do? Curse the food he was making? "What were you trying to make?"

"Devil cake."

"That can't be too hard, just buy some cake mix and follow the instructions."

"...Cake mix?"

"You didn't use cake mix? You tried from scratch?" Gee, that sounded like what his cousin Roderich would do...

"...Da." Ivan said.

"Wow, I wouldn't be able to attempt that. I'd have to get flour and egg yolk and-"

"Huh? I didn't use any of that!"

"What...?"

Ivan went to his schoolbag which they had left on a chair. They had gotten permission from the teachers to use the teacher's cafeteria on the agreement that they'd clean the mess and they helped out for free. As in they didn't get any extra credit for filing papers for the next few weeks. After digging through the bag a while, Ivan returned with a small book, but thick enough to be a textbook. "Here! I used instructions from this book!"

Gilbert took the book gently. It was rather old, with yellowing pages. He squinted at the cover. It was in Russian, but he could recognize some characters. What bothered him was that it scripty and hand written. Who hand writes books these days? They're all printed!

"Oh, here! Here's the page..." Ivan said as he helpfully turned to a page that he had bookmarked.

Gilbert quickly skimmed through the ingredients. Then he read it more carefully, eyes widening as he went down the list. "Was zur Hölle ist das?" Gilbert exclaimed. "Instructions to summon the devil?"

"Well, it is _devil_ cake."

* * *

"Mmmm..."

"Chto eto takoe?" Russia asked cautiously. His voice sounded funny since he was holding his nose.

"Mmmm..." Prussia twitched as he looked at the...glop for a lack of a better word to describe it. "I-Its awesome! Obviously!" But he too, was holding his nose.

"...I didn't know awesome smelled like this."

"W-Well, now you do!"

* * *

"It...looks better." Arthur admitted the next day. Gilbert was not present at the table.

"It looks edible, eh." Matthew agreed, but of course, no one heard him.

"You tried really hard to make this, didn't you? Its way better than yesterday's..." Alfred said as he opened up the container.

"So you'll eat it?"

"No."

"Why-"

"Alfred! Put the bloody cover back on! Its stinks!"

* * *

"There is nothing awesome can't do!" Gilbert declared as he dropped a pile of books on the table. "If we have some instructions this time without blindly going at this..."

The afterschool days went on and as much as Gilbert didn't want to admit it, cooking and spending time with Ivan wasn't bad. He had told himself there were two main reasons as to why he was doing this. One was he didn't want he didn't want Yao to get mad. The other was as he had said, there is nothing awesome can't do!

But cooking was really hard. They haven't made a successful attempt once! The results sometimes even get worse than normal. And Alfred hadn't taken a bite of Ivan's food. He was, however, bending just a bit to Ivan's confessions. He didn't complain as much when Ivan was around, but he still downright rejected him each time with no hesitation.

"Hey, Gilbert, thanks for helping me, da." Ivan said as they watched the cake.

"Naw, don't mention it." Gilbert said, waving his hand as if to prove his point. "I can do anything. Including cooking. Maybe it'll turn out alright this time."

* * *

Yao was carrying a box of assorted teacher's things down the hallway. He was helping his teacher for some club credits. _If I do them all now, I won't have to worry about them junior or senior year, aru._ He had thought to himself. "Aiya~ I forgot where the room was again-" Yao paused and sniffed the air. ...Was something burnt? He looked around and his eyes widened when he saw black smoke coming out of the teacher's cafeteria.

"Huo zai!" Yao yelled and dropped everything, about to alert a teacher when he saw through the window on the door that there were people inside. "Aiya! Hey! Hey!" He yelled as he burst through the door. "Wake up! Don't just slee- Ivan? Gilbert?" He realized that it was his two schoolmates sleeping there and quickly started shaking them to wake them.

"Mmmnnn...Five more minutes, Dad..." Gilbert mumbled as he stretched and yawned. Mid-yawn, he realized that there was smoke everywhere. "Woah! We feel asleep with the oven on!" He yelled as he tried to open the oven.

"Aiya! Wait!" Yao tried to warn him. But it was too late, Gilbert had opened the oven only to show a blazing fire. "Aiya! Shui! Where...!" Yao quickly ran over to the sink and retrieved some water in a bucket to try to put out the fire. It took a couple more buckets before it was completely out.

All three boys were panting and coughing as they started opening windows to get rid of the smoke.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Yao shouted at them. "What the hell, aru? You're telling me that you fell asleep with the oven on, aru?"

"I can't help it!" Gilbert whined. "They started turning on the heat! The warmness makes me sleepy..."

"We won't do it again, da." Ivan promised. "And besides, you were here to help us."

Yao let out an aggravated sigh. "Why are you trying to learn to bake a cake again, aru?"

"Well that's- You don't need to know!" Gilbert quickly said.

"I think I should, aru! Seeing how I needed to save your lives because you were cooking, aru!"

"I want to make lunch for Alfred." Ivan said quietly.

"Eh? That's all? Why didn't you just ask me for help?"

* * *

"No, Gilbert!" Yao shouted as he rushed over to the German's side. It was a couple days after the fire incident and they had taken the same amount of days just to clean the kitchen. "The dumplings go in after you've boiled the water, aru!"

"Yao! This is right, da?" Ivan asked uncertainly as he looked at the wok.

"Yes! Don't be afraid of _oil_, aru! You're Russian, aren't you!"

* * *

"It's...It's Chinese this time..." Alfred said, staring at the container filled with rice and chicken and other Chinese styled food.

"Got any tea?" Arthur asked hopefully.

"I hope not..." Alfred mumbled as he opened the container. "It...smells nice too. It looks...edible. Did you really make this?"

"Da." Ivan said with a nod. "Yao taught me how to! It was better than someone else's instructions." Gilbert averted his eyes by pretending to have a cough.

Alfred took a while to try to get the chopsticks right in his hand and after a while, he gave up all together and used the spork. "It...It tastes good..."

"Really?" Ivan said, eyes lighting up. "Does that mean you'll go out with me?"

Alfred let out a sigh. "...For one date, ok? But that's it."

Everyone else on the table stared at him. "WAIT WHAT?" They all yelled at the same time.

* * *

**So I said I would focus on Duraheta! and try to get that finished and published as soon as possible...Uh, I changed my mind? o3o'' W-What? Those two doujinshis I bought at the convention were so cute that I wanted to write RussiaxPrussia again!**

**Anyways, starting next chapter the story should change and start to be RussiaxPrussia! :D ...Or maybe it's the chapter after the next one... I can't time things for my life! ._.''**

Russian:

Da- Yes

Spasibo- Thank you

Chto eto takoe- What is this

German:

Was zur Hölle ist das- What the hell is that

Nein- No

Chinese:

Huo zai- Fire

Shui- Water

French:

Oui- Yes


	4. Chapter 4

"Where's Ivan today, aru?" Yao asked when he walked into the teacher's cafeteria to find only Gilbert trying to cook.

"Huh? Oh, Alfred finally agreed to go on a date with Ivan. So he's not here today. He wants to get ready for tomorrow or something." Gilbert said as he continued to stir the contents of the bowl. He still wanted to try and make cake.

"Tomorrow... Well, Friday's a good choice, aru. Wouldn't get in the way of doing homework?" When Gilbert gave him a look that asked 'why are you thinking of homework?', Yao shrugged. "I like to do my homework on Sundays, aru. Even if I play the good kid, I can't help but hang out with friends on Fridays and Saturdays. So it would be nice to have fun on Friday..."

"Eh, well. Whatever. At least that's over and done with." Gilbert said as he finished turning the flour into a more liquid like substance.

"You sound like you're upset about this, aru." Yao asked as he put his bags on a chair and went to get a cake mold for when Gilbert was done mixing the batter.

"Unhappy? I'm not unhappy. I'm super happy that I don't have to deal with this anymore."

"You don't sound like it, aru. You're not happy for Ivan." Statement, not a question. "Why?" Now that was a question.

Gilbert let out an annoyed sigh. "You're persistent, you know that? I'm surprised that Ivan was able to stand it for so long." The cake mold was filled to the top now and he quickly put it in the oven. Yao turned it on and set the timer.

"Meeeh, I'm also a good listener too, aru." Sort of. He knew to keep his mouth shut when someone was ready to spill the beans. He just didn't know how to keep his mouth shut when being in a fight. He had some good verbal insults and kong fu skills waiting to be used.

Gilbert rolled his eyes, giving up as he took the cake mold that Yao had found in the upper cabinet and poured the batter into it. "I don't know..." He mumbled. "I mean, I know I hate Ivan. But, well, I guess he's not that bad a person. I sort of found out after hanging out with him these past few days. Now that he's suddenly gone, it feels... "

"Like a bit of a lost, aru? That things will be awkward, aru? That he'll have no time for you, aru?"

"...Ja." It was a bit scary that Yao seemed to know exactly what he was thinking to the exact words. "Are you worried about this too or something?"

"Or something, aru." Yao answered. "I've had this happen to me before. The circumstances were a bit different, I suppose, but not by much, aru."

"Really? Who?"

"...My younger brother and sister, aru. They used to depend on me a lot when we were younger. ...And the suddenly, they just don't need me anymore, aru. It doesn't sound the same to you, does it, aru?" Yao said with a chuckle at Gilbert's skeptical look.

"Nope. My brother would never suddenly up and leave me." But thinking about it, Ludwig did stop asking him to do stuff with him every now and then and it did bring about the same type of loneliness as he was currently feeling. "Aaaah! Why am I thinking about this? I hate Ivan anyways! And I'm supposed to hate you too!"

"Hate...? Oh! ...You mean about the time at the school trip where you cried like a baby just because Ivan..."

"What do you mean 'just because'? It was a life threatening situation and I did not cry like a baby!"

"Ok, aru." Yao said with a shrug. "But why are you still hanging on to that, aru? It's been so long."

Gilbert frowned. He didn't like being told that he was doing something wrong even if he was. "Because. ...Either way, I don't like him, then I don't like him!"

"...You're being impractical, aru."

* * *

"How does this look?" Ivan asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. He was wearing a white shirt and black dress pants.

Toris sat on the bed folding some clothes while Eduard was searching up the internet for good outfits for first dates. He was actually secretly playing a game on the side each time Ivan went into the bathroom to change into yet another outfit. This left poor Raivis by himself to comment on Ivan's outfit.

"I...It's g-good..." Raivis stuttered out. He was too scared to make much of an opinion each time and just awkwardly stated that each outfit was 'good'.

"Hmmm... It feels a bit plain, though... Da?" Ivan said as he turned around in the mirror.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, sir!" The little freshman couldn't take it for much longer. He didn't think that agreeing to tell Ivan schedule would lead to this. He was just trying to make some cash. And now, he's ended up in Ivan's mini-cluster.

"...? But you just said it was good, da?"

"I-I-I..." The Latvian started making unintelligible sounds before he started crying.

"Er, Ivan!" Eduard spook up. "W-Why don't you try this outfit next?" He said as he pulled out an article of clothing from the closet.

"...I'm sure that belongs to my sister, da..."

"O-Oh. What's it doing in your closet?"

"I want to know too, da."

It had taken a while (a long while), but after the prospect of even a lolita dress, Toris finally decided that he'd better help picking out the clothing. "Here." Toris said as he went through Ivan's closet, drawer, shelves to give him the right outfit. "Now hurry up and try changing into it." He said, ushering the Russian into the bathroom.

"But-"

"Just go change into it! You don't want to be in a giant rush tomorrow, do you?"

Although a bit reluctant, Ivan nodded and closed the door to change. Stepping out, Ivan had a skeptical look on his face. "Is this really alright? It's so... plain." He was wearing a T-shirt with more design on it than necessary and a black hoodie on top. Just simple jeans that were somewhat baggy and his usual scarf hanging around his neck.

Toris nodded. "You didn't need to be extravagant. Sure you're having dinner together, but it's just a date. Do you want to go there in a suit?" Besides that, he knew Alfred well enough to know that the American would probably go there in a T-shirt and jeans anyways.

Ivan was still a bit unconvinced, but nodded, deciding to agree upon it. "Ok. I'll take your word for it." He said as he walked back into the bathroom to change back to his normal indoor clothes. "You guys can leave now." That statement earned the relief of all other occupants of the house.

* * *

Even before Alfred walked up the stairs to the school entrance, kids hanging out by Deli's outside the train station were giving him looks. "Did you hear, did you hear? He finally agreed to go out with him!" "Maybe Ivan threatened him?" "It's _Alfred_. Who can threaten him?" As the hero (and somewhat attention whore), he wouldn't mind people talking with him. But this was annoying. Really annoying. And it didn't help that the moment he set foot into the school, Ivan was in his face already.

"Ivan, let me go to my locker in peace, would you?" Alfred said as he twisted his lock to get it to open. _Clang_! Alfred opened up his locker and started searching for the right books to bring to class.

"Eh, why? Since we're a couple now, we should be together all the time, da?"

"Where on earth did you get that idea from?" Alfred asked with furrowed brows as he found a paper bag with Dunkin Donuts printed on it hidden between folders. _Hmm, need to throw this out later..._ He thought as he stuck it back into the back of the locker.

"Shouldn't you throw that out, da?" Ivan asked as he watched Alfred put it back in.

"I would, but I'm feeding the locker." Seeing that Ivan was confused, he explained, "Just like how the changing room lockers eat up one item each time you use it, normal lockers would too."

"...That sounds... Highly improbable. There's more room in the hallways..."

"I'm not going to take the chance." Alfred slammed the locker closed and turned to walk to his first period class. "Why don't you go now? First period's about to start. I'm not going to see you 'till fourth."

"Oh, but I want to spend more time with you, da!" Ivan said with a grin. "I can walk you to your class too! That's what couples do, da?"

Alfred let out a groan of agony as he doubled over to pull on his hair. "Don't follow me around, Braginsky! It's weird to have a guy following another guy around!"

Gilbert was at his own locker when he heard Alfred's outburst. _Sad, but true._ He agreed mentally as he watched Ivan fluster about trying to please Alfred. "He's trying too hard..." He mumbled to himself as he locked up his locker and walked in the direction of the cafeteria. It would be nice to learn (sleep) on a full stomach.

He turned the corner and- "Oof!" He just ran into someone. "Gee, watch where you're going! What if the awesome me got hurt?"

"Bruder!" Oh, that voice was familiar. Looking up, Gilbert saw his brother's blue eyes staring down at him. He was sweating a bit and he didn't look happy.

"Oh, 'sup West?"

"I've been looking everywhere for you! You said you were going to be at the cafeteria! Why weren't you?"

"Um, I'm going there right now. So what do you need me for? As much as I love you, West, awesome's gotta be where he's gotta be." He said with a cocky grin as he glanced at his wrist as if he was looking at his watch.

"Bruder, don't play games now! Here!" Ludwig reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Your Chemistry teacher told me to give that to you!" He said before turning around to walk back to where he was sitting, by the door of his first period class.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow as he watched a cute Italian boy run up to hug his brother. "Maybe I should get buff too. Would cute guys run over to me then?" He wondered outloud as he continued to go to the cafeteria, opening up the note and reading what it's about.

* * *

"You are failing. I'm in charge of some heavy lifting afterschool today. If you want to get some extra credit, come help out." Antonio read out loud from the note. "Are you going to go?"

"Do I have a choice?" Gilbert groaned as he leaned back, effectively almost falling off the bench. "I got a freakin' 64 on the last test."

"64?" Francis questioned. "You just missed the mark. Malchanceux."

"I don't need you to tell me." Gilbert mumbled as he tossed a scrunched up napkin at him. Francis easily dodged, but did not anticipate the second one being thrown and it hit him on the cheek.

"Oh, but Gilbert, we haven't gone home together in so long! And you said today you can!" Antonio pouted. "You're always cooking with Ivan!"

"...That was what you were doing?" Francis asked in surprise. "You'd rather cook with him than me? I'm hurt, Gilbert!" Francis faked a pout as well. "You've made me very sad! So you better come home with us!" He said as he pulled Gilbert into a hug with Antonio following suit, effectively keeping Gilbert in the middle of them.

"Hey! Hey-! Gnk-!" Gilbert tried to get himself out of their grip with no avail. "Let go, you idiots!"

"Not until you agree to come home with us!" Antonio said as the two of them tightened their grip around him.

"What? No! I just told you I can't! I'm going to fail!" But apparently, the message wasn't getting through to them. He would cry for help from the nearest person, but his pride wouldn't let him to that.

"Oi! Let go of him, you gits!" Arthur said as he smacked both France and Antonio on the head with his binder. The moment they loosened their grip slightly, Gilbert jumped off the bench to beside Arthur. "Have your threesome elsewhere. I don't need to see it."

"Yea! You heard the man!" Gilbert said, sticking his tongue out to the two of them before picking up his bag and leaving the cafeteria. Deciding to sit outside his classroom, he passed the time by playing on his cell phone. He was playing for a good ten minutes when a flash of lightning, followed by thunder startled him. "Woah, it's coming down hard..." He noted as he walked over to the window to look outside. He didn't have his umbrella today and was only wearing a thin hoodie so he hoped that it would let down before the end of the day.

* * *

"Gilbert! Help us move this desk!" A voice called from the other end of the storage room.

"Yea, I'm coming!" He yelled back as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Ok, I know I'm the strongest seeing how they're all wimps, but is it necessary to get me to do _everything_?" He mumbled to himself as he shoved his current desk the corner of the room before heading to the other end of the room. Passing by the clock, he glanced at it, _six already_, he hadn't even noticed it had gotten that late... "I guess Ivan must be having fun at his date now..." He whispered before hearing one of his classmates call from the other end of the room again.

After having moved everything that needed to be moved (including multiple desks, textbooks, and shelves), Gilbert heard thunder from outside the window. "It's still raining?" He whined.

"Yea, sorry, I don't got any spare umbrellas!" One of the boys that were helping out. And as much as Gilbert wished that he could call one of them a 'friend', all of them quickly grabbed their bags and ran out of the room.

"Oh, gee! Thanks!" Gilbert screamed after them. "Guess I can't help you on the next Chemistry test!" Flipping the bird at them, he return to the room to grab his hoodie again as well as his bookbag which the freshmen had thrown somewhere.

"-anks for the help, Kiku!"

Oh, that voice was familiar... Gilbert paused in his searching as he strained to hear the conversation, but whatever the Japanese boy was saying as a repy was far too quiet for him to hear.

"Date? Nah, I'm not actually going..."

Gilbert's eyes widened and he placed a hand over his mouth to stop himself from making a noise. He could hear them clearly now since they were standing close to the door to chat.

"But, Alfred... What about Ivan's feelings...?"

"I think he really needs to know. I'm just not interested."

"But...Isn't this a bit cruel-"

"Are you an idiot!" Gilbert yelled, throwing the door open and startling both Alfred and Kiku. "I can't believe this!" He looked back in the room, spying his bag behind a chair, he grabbed it and stomped out of the room.

* * *

Gilbert didn't bother with how wet he was getting. He didn't even mind stepping into the giant puddles that tend to gather around the corners of the sidewalk because kids like to throw garbage to clog up the sewers. "Pick up already, dammit!" He mumbled as Ivan's voice mail came on again.

He was annoyed by how far away Ivan had picked the restaurant to be. _Edge of the city, thanks so much, Ivan!_ When the restaurant was finally in sight, Gilbert could make out someone sitting outside the door.

Stopping in front of him, Gilbert let out a sigh and bit his lip, wondering what to say. "...Loitering is a crime, you know."

"Not loitering." Ivan mumbled back. "Waiting for someone, da."

"You've been here for two...three hours, why do you think he's going to come?"

Ivan didn't answer and instead covered his face with his hands.

"Come on. You're going to catch a cold." Gilbert said as he reached a hand out to the Russian to pull him up. It took Ivan a moment, but he accepted Gilbert's hand and stood up. "Where's your house? I can take you home." When Ivan mumbled where his house was, Gilbert quickly changed his mind. "Never mind, my house is closer, you can stay there for tonight?"

"...Dad'll get upset."

"What sort of dad would want their son to get sick? Come on." He said as he pulled Ivan down the block. "The longer we stay out here, the colder it'll be."

"...My heart's felt frozen for quite a while."

"That's stupid! Anything that's frozen can be melted!" Gilbert said loudly as he picked up the pace.

* * *

The rain's freezing his hands as he stumbled to get the keys to open the door. When he finally did, he had expected Ivan to follow him in. When he didn't, Gilbert pulled him in by the hand. "Sheesh, you really want to freeze or something?"

Ivan scanned the room. The doorway had led him into a large living room with the kitchen behind it. He could already imagine Gilbert eating on the couch laughing at the TV. The windows were on both sides of the house and there was a hallway that led to the back where he presumed rooms were. There were also a staircase, but he couldn't see beyond and into that.

"What, the size of the house astounds you?" Gilbert said with a smirk as he pulled his hoodie off and threw it on the couch. It was wet and staining the cushions, but he wasn't the one to care. That was Ludwig's job. "There's a lot of us living here. Me, my dad, my brother, and my two cousins."

He waited for the Russian to say something. When he didn't, he sighed. "Fine! Silent treatment, huh? Alright, two can play that game!" He pulled Ivan up the stairs with him and to a corridor full of closed doors. "Here's the bathroom. Go take a bath and I'll go find some clothes for you. Maybe we still have some old clothes that we pulled too much."

Just as Gilbert was about to leave, Ivan reached out and caught his arm. "Why are you being so nice to me? I know, da. I know that you still hate me."

Gilbert frowned and stared up at him, unable to answer. There wasn't a clear reason that he was helping the Russian. It was just that he couldn't have just left Ivan by himself after being crushed. He could still remember how it felt that... _I'll wait for you, right here! Don't worry, I'll come, I promise!_ The words rung in his head as he bit his lip. She never did come... "Tch, because I'm nice and awesome, duh!" He finally answered.

"...Huh?"

"Now get in there and take a shower before I have to go and strip you myself!" With that, Gilbert shook his arm loose from Ivan's grip and shoved the Russian in, slamming the door shut himself.

"...Huh..." Ivan repeated as he stared at the bathtub. "...I hope this bathtub works the same way as the one I have home..."

* * *

Ludwig was rather annoyed as he stepped through the door of his house. Both Roderich and Vash had asked him to wait for them afterschool since for some reason he could not understand, they had both been absentminded enough to forget their keys. Neither one of them were irresponsible people, he could only wonder what had caused them to forget their keys. And still afterwards, they decided to inform him three hours after school ended that they would be late. He supposed, it was time to use that internet phrase that Korean kid and Romano often used, "Fuck my life."

Unlocking the door, he scowled when he saw that Gilbert had thrown wet clothing on the couch. Sighing, he picked up the wet hoodie and hung it on the coat rack, careful to keep it a distance from the dry clothing and slipped some newspaper underneath to not let the wooden floors get damaged.

Dropping off his bag in his room upstairs, he waited a short while in the hallways for the bathroom door to open. When fifteen minutes had passed, Ludwig was getting annoyed and knocked on the door. "Gilbert! Get out, you don't own the bathroom!" He continued to pound the door a couple more times when the door opened and he stared at a shirtless Russian. Ludwig can only stare for a moment before yelling, "GILBEEEEEERT!"

"Was?" The door to the bedroom at the end opened and Gilbert poked his head out.

"This!" Ludwig said as he pointed at Ivan.

"That would be Ivan."

"Why's he in our house?"

"Don't worry about that." Gilbert said, walking out of his room with some neatly folded clothing- ones probably folded by Ludwig or anyone in the household, but him. "Here, found some stuff that might fit you!" He said as he shoved the clothing into Ivan's chest. "Now go take your shower!"

The door was shut again as Ludwig stared at his older brother with an expression that was beyond annoyance. "Why's he in our house?" He repeated his question.

"I told you, don't worry about it!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I don't like that man and neither do you, tell me why he's here! Or did you forget what happened on that school trip?"

The older German narrowed his eyes and looked away. "Of course I remember, but it's just for tonight!" When Ludwig didn't look convinced, he added, "He'll sleep in my room, ok?"

"...Huh?"

"No problem now, right?" Gilbert gave him a cocky grin for winning before running back into his room.

"Wait, Gil- Ugh..." The headache was approaching and he ran down the stairs to use the bathroom in the basement instead.

* * *

**Aha, isn't it funny? The story's still taking place in **_**October**_**. Gott, this is behind Dx**

**It was rather hard to write this part too ;w;'' Not only did I have to make Alfred quite the jerk, each time Gilbert was nice to Ivan, I felt like he was getting OOC. OTL**

**&& Alfred is being a jerk to Ivan for a reason- He really, really hates him. A lot of the friendships and hatred stems from the past when they were all kids! ...This fic is getting nowhere fast, isn't it? *rolls eyes* Add that with my busy schedule. I'm getting no sleep next week! Three tests in one day right before vacation! ;-;**

**Let's end my rant now... About my other fics, I don't know when I can update them ._.'' Probably not soon. Sorry! ;;;**

* * *

Russian:

Da - Yes

French:

Malchanceux - Bad luck


End file.
